(FYI: Blue is the male; Green is the female. I don't care what they were originally/in Japan because of the Red/Green pairing; I grew up knowing Blue as the rival in Crystal and SoulSilver, and the published manga I bought and read over here in Canada referred to the rival as Blue as well. Please don't comment that "their names are backwards". They're not. It's my opinion as the writer, so deal with it.)

Okay, I've been rereading the Pokémon Adventures manga lately, and I've come to realize that Yellow Caballero is basically THE most adorable character ever. Seriously, she just does no wrong; her sweet naïveté is just too cute to pass up. And, since I neglected to do a Christmas story last year (or holiday story, since Christmas has past), here is a second story this year to make up for it. Since I could actually see Yellow and Red being together (once Red finally took notice), I decided that the holidays and Specialshipping together presented an idea too sweet to pass up. And so, as a result, we have my first try at a Pokémon fic – and more importantly, a story for the holidays! I know it's sweet and sappy, but that's how I see it, so shut up and go with it. My present to Specialshipping fans this year, here is That Special Countdown!

That Special Countdown

Brush it down… Now twirl… And now for the clip… Where's the clip? Shoot, where'd I put the clip? Ah, it fell out! Maybe I can save it… Er, half of it. Yeah, that looks suitable. Oh, not again…

Yellow sighed and rubbed her eyes gently as she sat in front of her mirror. She had been attempting to fix her hair for a good fifteen minutes now, and was still back where she started. How was it that other girls could do this in their sleep, yet she struggled with anything harder than a ponytail?

The girl sighed again and laid her head down on her desk. A yellow mouse jumped up beside her and nuzzled her cheek affectionately, which drew a small smile. Yellow rubbed Chuchu's head absentmindedly as she stared at her hairbrush, trying to figure out in her head what to do. She took notice of what was underneath the brush and picked her head up slowly. Reaching to move it, she felt a bit better at what she saw.

"Oh, there it is," she said softly as she picked up her hairclip. She had put her brush down on top of it; that pretty much summed up her preparation so far. She stood out of her chair and paced around her room slowly as she tried to think.

It was eight o'clock, which meant that Green's party was in an hour. Plenty of time to get ready, yet she had already proven that she needed more than just 'plenty' of time. Yellow sighed as she sat on her bed. Why was Green even having another party? Christmas wasn't even a week ago; that party had been tons of fun, and Gold had even described it as "un-top-able". Yet here they were, getting ready to do it all again. And she couldn't even get her hair to cooperate.

Yellow massaged her brow in frustration. She couldn't believe that in fourteen years, she had never learned anything other than a ponytail. Then again, she had never really needed much else; she rarely attended parties and otherwise kept her hair under a large straw hat. Failing everything, Green could just help her again, but she wanted to do it herself this time. She just couldn't quite remember what the older girl had done.

Yellow stood up and wandered back over to her desk. Sitting back down in front of her mirror, she picked up her brush and started again. As she went through the process for the hundredth time, she thought back to the end of their Christmas party. She knew already that only she, Gold, Crys, and Silver would be travelling to Pallet Town; everyone else had other plans. Still, it'd be fun with only seven of them.

The girl blinked out of her thoughts and realized that she had gotten her hair up without paying attention. Chuchu simply shrugged with a 'cha' and Yellow giggled. Reaching for her clip, she slipped it into place and carefully took her hands away. Amazingly, her hair stayed up; it looked pretty good too, for her first successful try. She smiled at herself in the mirror and stood up to get her dress.

Last week had also been the first time she had spent Christmas with someone other than her Uncle Wilton; usually it was just the two of them plus whoever dropped by. But Wilton had found his own gathering to attend, so everything had worked out. Besides, her uncle was still rather young; he was quite popular and well known around the Viridian area, particularly with the women.

As it turned out, he had his own party to go to tonight as well, which left Yellow free to do whatever she wished. As she pulled her dress out of her closet, she thought about her dear Pokémon that she was going to see today as well. She had left them at Professor Oak's lab last week to have some space to run around in; only Chuchu had accompanied her back home to keep her company. It had been a long week for them, since Yellow was very rarely away from her friends. The thought of seeing them again, however, raised her spirits and made her very excited for the party.

Yellow changed into her honey-coloured dress and stood once more before her mirror. It actually looked very nice without being too formal: it ended around her ankles and left her arms and shoulders bare. It was almost like a gown if it were downgraded to a social event. It was certainly an unusual style, but Yellow was happy with it. After slipping into a pair of shoes to match her dress, she decided that everything worked together.

Now, only one thing was missing. She picked up a small box on her desk and opened it. A yellow and white gold necklace lay inside, two strands of different-coloured metal surrounding a diamond. Red, Blue and Green had gotten it for her for Christmas, and she thought it was the most beautiful piece of jewellery she had ever seen. She placed it around her neck and examined herself. Yes, that was perfect; now she was ready for a party.

She sat on her bed as Chuchu jumped up onto her lap. As she stroked the rodent, she saw that she had a bit of time to kill before leaving. Deciding that she had nothing else she could do, she settled on leaving now and just walking slowly. After putting on a jacket she picked up Chuchu and gently placed the mouse on her shoulder, then with a quick goodbye to her uncle, was out the door.

Luckily, it wasn't snowing or even windy; it was a very nice night for a walk. Pallet Town was only a ten minute trek from Viridian, so Yellow slowed her pace and examined the trees as she went by. Thoughts of everyone she was going to see again flashed through her mind, though they hesitated on one boy in particular. Yellow smiled softly to herself; She knew Chuchu was excited to see him as well, though for an entirely different reason.

After about fifteen slow minutes, she arrived at the small town. Even from where she stood she could make out Green's house: every other home was softly lit while hers was lit up like a bonfire. Yellow sighed to herself; why couldn't Green ever respect the inane amount of electricity she used?

She made her way to the house, but it wasn't long before a voice called out, "Yellow!" The girl turned at her name being called only to see an older boy of sixteen rushing from his house over to her. As he approached, he began examining her dress; Yellow could already feel her face heating up.

"Wow, you look really nice," Red commented as he glanced at her shoes. He then examined himself with a frown and said, "You're wearing something different though, I'm just in the same thing from last week. I feel underwhelmed now."

"Oh, it's okay!" Yellow replied quickly, eyes widening. "I think you look fine! I like that shirt on you!" She could feel her blush returning as Red slowly looked at her with a raised brow. For a moment neither of them spoke, but then Red began to laugh.

"You're too sweet, Yellow," the boy replied as they set off towards the shining house. They walked in silence for a moment before Yellow noticed something was missing. "Um, Red?"

"Hmm?"

"Where's Pika?" Chuchu nodded vigorously at the question. Red chuckled and ruffled the mouse's head before pointing to the house before them.

"Blue took him earlier. I think Green wanted him to charge a portable battery so she could keep all these lights lit," Red replied, gesturing to all of the strands that hung around the house. Yellow blinked as she considered this. Touché, Green.

They walked up to the door and knocked twice. A couple of seconds later, a female voice called out, "Blue, get the door!" After a couple of seconds more, it was followed with, "I don't care! Put your stupid book down for a minute and go answer the door!"

After a moment the door opened to reveal a tall, serious looking boy Red's age. "Oh, good," Blue said with the slightest display of relief. "Someone to keep that chatty girl occupied." He looked at Yellow at this, who looked away nervously. Blue held open the door, and the pair slowly entered the house, already wary of the night to come.

"Crys is in the kitchen with Green. They're making cookies or something," Blue added nonchalantly as he headed back to his chair. Red followed him as Yellow stood by the door to remove her jacket. She quietly listened to the conversation as she slowly made her way into the living room while Chuchu paced around her feet. She was always one to listen rather than talk.

"But weren't there a bunch of cookies left over from last week?" Red asked in a confused tone.

"Well, Gold ate a lot of them. But regardless, yes, there are."

"And they're making more."

"Are you surprised?"

Red sighed. "No, I guess not. So if Crys is here, then the others are too?"

"They were. They left about an hour ago to Viridian to go see the new Trainer House."

"…But it's closed. It's like nine o'clock."

"That's what Silver and I tried telling Gold, but I don't think he heard."

Red shrugged. The boy would find out one way or another. He took a seat on the couch and examined the room. "Green didn't really change anything from the party. Tree's still up, lights are still up – if anything she put up more – she left that branch of mistletoe up," he commented as he noticed the small white berries out of the corner of his eye. Blue nodded without looking up from his book.

"She said she did it deliberately, but she wouldn't tell me why," he replied as he turned a page. "She must think I'm not very good with secrets."

Red laughed. "You were always the best with secrets! You never cared enough to dwell on them." He turned around and noticed Yellow standing off to the side of the room. "Yellow, why don't you sit?"

"Oh, um…" Yellow trailed off, trying to think of an excuse. Truthfully she wanted to sit beside Red, but was too shy to. "…I was examining the tree," she said finally, pointing to the Christmas tree across the room.

"C'mon, you did that for half an hour last time," Red countered. Yellow stammered as she realized this was true.

"I-I just like the ornaments, I think they're cute," she finally said, and Blue snorted quietly from his chair. Yellow turned a slight shade redder as she wondered if Blue suspected her secret, while Red waved his hand.

"C'mon, sit with me, you can look at the tree later if you still want to," the boy said casually, waving her over beside him. Slowly, Yellow walked over to the couch and took a seat at the edge, trying to relax herself. She noticed Blue staring at her with a raised brow, but he flicked his eyes back down to his book before she could say anything.

"Hey Chuchu, I think Pika's probably in the kitchen getting fed dough," Red said to the yellow mouse by the girl's feet. Chuchu smiled before racing off to the kitchen, where happy chirps could be heard moments later. Yellow giggled at the sound. She enjoyed how close their Pikachu were.

A moment later, Green came out of the kitchen, wearing a bright green dress and holding two glasses filled with punch. "Hey, there you guys are!" she said as she handed each of them a glass. "And you came together? Aww, so sweet," she added with a wink to Yellow. The girl blushed and glanced away with a quick "thank you" as she took her glass.

"Oh, Yellow, you look adorable!" Green said as she pulled the younger girl into a hug. Yellow stuttered out another "thank you" as best she could while Green held her tightly. "Blue, doesn't Yellow look cute?"

"Yes, you're very cute."

"Blue, stop being antisocial! If you don't, I just might have to break up with you."

Blue lowered the book and stared at the girl flatly. "No, you won't."

"…Shut up. C'mon, at least put the book away!"

"I'm antisocial? You've been spending all of your time in the kitchen."

"I'm making cookies!"

"We have enough cookies. You don't need to make more."

"Oh yeah? Wait until Gold gets back."

Blue rolled his eyes and set his book aside as Green took a seat on one of the arms of his chair. Red simply sat there, amused at the argument. How they had ended up together was beyond them, but somehow they made it work. Yellow, on the other hand, knew why they clicked; after all, she had Green confiding in her every other week about something. Somehow, their opposite personalities just counterbalanced each other.

They heard the front door open as footsteps sounded on the floor. "We're back!" a loud voice called. A moment later Silver and Gold strolled into the living room. "Guys, you'll never believe it. The Trainer House was closed!" Gold cried with a frown. Silver facepalmed while Blue rolled his eyes.

"When is everyone else coming? I'm bored," the energetic boy whined. Everyone looked at each other before Silver decided to be the one to point out the obvious.

"Gold…" he said, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths. When he knew Gold had turned to look at him, he simply pointed to the couch. When he heard "Whoa!" he sighed again. Opening his eyes, he turned to Blue and said, "Try an hour of this."

"Try an hour of this," Blue replied, jerking a thumb at Green, who proceeded to swat his head. Silver gave a short laugh.

"I spent years with her. She's no challenge. He-" he pointed to Gold who was in the midst of planting himself between Yellow and Red- "is. You can't even ignore him."

"Nope. You do this instead," Blue answered. Turning to Gold, he said, "Hey, I think I heard Crys say she was looking for a kiss earlier." Gold immediately jumped off of the seat and flew towards the kitchen. Silver simply marvelled at what had just happened before turning back to Blue. "That was masterful."

"You live and learn," was the older boy's reply. Turning to Red, he added, "Maybe you should scoot over, Red. Save Yellow the headache of sitting next to that again." Red quickly complied, closing the gap between him and the small girl. Yellow began to feel nervous, and saw Green turn to face Blue. She could have sworn she heard the older girl whisper, "Well played."

Silver sat in another chair, and they sat in silence for a moment as they listened for any noise coming from the kitchen. After a moment they heard a distinctive 'smack' as well as, "I don't care what he said, he was lying!"

Gold slowly walked out of the kitchen, rubbing his glowing cheek. "She didn't want a kiss," he said, and everyone burst into laughter. As he took a seat next to Red, Silver said to Blue, "You have to teach me that."

Blue replied, "You're smart, you can figure out how to yourself."

"You don't travel with him, you don't listen to it day and night."

Blue sighed. "Fine, later."

"Whatcha talking about?" Gold chimed in, to which both boys replied, "Nothing."

Red stretched his arms and sighed. "Man, it's only like nine thirty. I'm bored, Green. Can we do something?"

Green jumped off of the chair and clapped her hands together. "You bet! As soon as Crys is done we can play charades!"

"…Charades? That sounds needlessly hard," Gold commented. Green smirked a bit and replied, "Guys against girls?"

Silver smiled slightly. "That could be interesting. But it'd be four on three. That's an unfair advantage against you guys that you'll bring up when you lose."

"You'll be the one to lose! We don't need a fourth person!" Yellow quickly exclaimed, surprising everyone. Green stared at the girl, impressed that she'd actually joined into the banter.

"Yellow's right," she said with a sly grin. "We don't need a fourth. We're girls; we're better at team strategizing by default."

Crys walked into the room with a tray full of fresh cookies. As she set them down on the coffee table she greeted Yellow and Red. "So what're we doing?"

"Charades, guys and girls," Green filled her in. "Half and half. Yellow, come over here. Blue, get lost."

Blue rolled his eyes and stood up. He strolled across the room to where Gold was already explaining his 'strategy' to Red and a disgruntled Silver. "Okay, your plan sucks," the latter said as Blue approached. "Let Blue or Red think of something."

Gold frowned and crossed his arms as Blue crouched down. "Alright, I do have a couple of ideas," he said softly, and his teammates leaned in closer.

"Unbelievable," Silver muttered as the girls celebrated their victory. "An hour and a half of this, tied throughout, only to lose the last three rounds right at the end."

"Don't take it too hard," Blue said, his eyes closed and arms crossed. "We know who to blame for that." Silver and Red turned to Gold, who shrugged.

"It's not my fault you guys can't act," the boy replied casually. Silver's eye twitched.

"And it isn't our fault that you can't guess logically. Honestly, how many times did we tell you that you can't ask questions? We aren't allowed to talk, so you're just wasting your breath."

"Could've told me that at the beginning," was Gold's reply as he shrugged again. The vein on Silver's forehead was in danger of rupturing. Red, despite himself, smirked slightly at Gold's careless attitude. Blue noticed and said, "Don't encourage him. He'll just keep it up."

Yellow laughed as the girls watched the boys discuss their defeat. After that game, she felt a lot more relaxed and at ease with everyone else. Then again, she considered, anyone would after watching Blue try and act out a Magikarp; she didn't think she'd ever stop giggling after that. Green was able to prolong the fun by snapping a quick shot at his face when he wasn't looking; she was planning to post the picture all over town.

Yellow glanced at a clock and noticed the time. "Oh, it's almost eleven," she said, a bit dejected. "I never got to go see Ratty and Dody and everyone else…" She sank into a chair, disappointed that she'd forgotten about them. Green put her arm around the younger girl and handed her another glass of punch.

"Hey, if it bothers you, just crash here tonight and then go see them tomorrow morning," Green told her. "No big deal, there's a guest bed made up and I can lend you some clothes."

Yellow looked up at Green and smiled. "Okay, thank you Green," she said warmly. "That would be great." Green winked at her and went into the kitchen. A moment later she called out, "Oh, punch is done."

She walked out with a glass full of white liquid. "I could make more, but I found leftover eggnog from last week!" she said excitedly. She sat down on the arm of Blue's chair again and offered the boy a sip.

Blue shook his head. "No thank you, I'm in no hurry to try that."

Green's eyes widened. "You've never had eggnog before?" Everyone suddenly looked at the pair. They all knew that something worth watching was about to happen.

Blue shook his head slightly. "No, I have never had it before. Nor am I looking to change that."

"Blue, you have to try it! It's so good!"

"No, I'll pass, thanks."

"Blue, come on."

"I already said I was fine."

Green put on a sweet face and somehow got her eyes to water – a trick Red and Yellow had seen countless times, yet somehow still seemed to work its charm. "C'mon, for me?" she asked softly, holding out the glass. Blue sighed and took the glass with a roll of his eyes. He slowly raised it to his lips and took a quick sniff. His face wrinkled and he immediately brought the glass away from his mouth.

"Absolutely not, that smells disgusting."

Green rolled her own eyes and grabbed the glass. Before Blue could react, she tipped his chin up and wrenched open his mouth. As everyone watched, she quickly poured some of the eggnog into his mouth.

Blue coughed and choked as he pulled himself away from Green's grasp. For a moment he covered his mouth as he continued to cough, all the while swallowing bits of the drink. Finally, he stopped himself and slowly turned to Green. Everyone held their breath as they all silently wondered if this time Green had gone too far.

"It tastes even worse."

Green shrugged with a grin. "Well, now you know for sure!" She quickly drank the last of the eggnog as everyone looked around in confusion. The two of them had the oddest relationship any of them had ever seen.

It was Crys who finally broke the silence. "So… What now?" She turned to Silver and Gold, expecting one of them to come up with an idea. The boys looked at each other, both unsure. Gold suddenly got an idea and scooted closer to Crys.

"Well, that mistletoe over there probably hasn't been used yet tonight. What do you say, you and me…?" He trailed off as he wriggled his eyebrows suggestively. Silver quickly looked away and waited for the smack that came a second later. "Maybe he has a learning disability," he said to no one in particular.

"No, he's fine, he's just stupid," Green replied. "We still need an idea though." Everyone was silent as they pondered what they could do.

Red turned to Yellow and asked, "Hey, why don't you draw something? I bet everybody would like to see something of yours." Yellow quickly blinked and looked around. Everyone was suddenly looking at her, which caused her to flush a little; she really didn't like being the centre of attention if she could help it.

"Yeah Yellow, draw something!" Gold said enthusiastically. "Red's always saying how good you are!" Now it was Red's turn to blush slightly as his eyes widened. Blue snorted, which caused Green to break out in a fit of laughter.

"Um…" Yellow wasn't sure what to say. Did everyone really want to see her sketch something? "I would, I suppose, but I didn't bring my sketchbook. So I guess-"

"Actually, you left it here last time, remember?" Green voiced. "You said you wanted to draw my tree, but then you forgot about it after you did?"

Yellow swallowed; she did remember that now. But surely she wasn't that good. She just did it for fun! But Gold said that Red was always talking about her work. Red said that? Red…

Finally, she nodded. "Alright, I guess I will. But what do I draw?" Everyone looked around the room for a subject, before Crys remembered something.

"Pika and Chuchu are napping in the kitchen together!" she said excitedly. "Could you go draw them?"

Yellow glanced around at everyone staring at her expectantly. She nodded slowly, and Red grinned. "That would be really cool," he said, and Yellow's heart fluttered. Green handed her sketchbook to her, and she wandered over to the kitchen.

The first thing she noticed was that Green made a real mess when she baked; there were pans and cutlery all over the counter. Over in the corner though, two Pikachu were napping, their faces nuzzled against each other. Yellow smiled to herself and took a seat on the floor. After examining them for a moment, she began to work.

Normally drawing wasn't a slow process for her, but she wanted this one to be just right. Everyone would be looking at it, especially Red. She really wanted to impress him; not to mention it made her feel like they had a special connection because it was their Pikachu together.

She had looked up to Red ever since he had saved her in the Viridian Forest all those years ago. She could still remember the look on his face after he found out she was really a girl, but she was thrilled to learn that he identified her as the same girl he had saved. Red, who Blue had called 'the densest guy he knew', had remembered her after a year of being apart after a brief meeting.

She worked slowly and carefully, trying to get every detail correct. After about twenty minutes of careful sketching, she looked at her work. It was probably the most effort she'd ever put into a drawing, but it showed: it looked like a picture had been taken of the two.

She wandered back into the living room, where everyone was chatting about nothing in particular as they waited. As they looked up, Yellow shyly handed her sketchbook over to Green. She held it so that Blue could see as well, and the boy whistled slowly.

"Looks just like them," Blue said slowly. "I've never seen a sketch like that from anyone other than my grandfather."

"Yeah, it's amazingly realistic, Yellow!" Green complimented as she handed it to Silver. "Did you teach yourself to do that?"

Yellow shook her head nervously. "No, I've always been able to do it. I mean, not very well, but I just do it for fun, right? There's no need to go to a school for it or anything…"

"Maybe consider it," Silver replied as he reached to give it to Crys on the couch. "With your talent you could actually be a field researcher or something along those lines."

Blue nodded. "My grandfather is always saying how they're hard enough to come by anymore; computers are the way things are done now."

"Anyone find it weird how Pika can surf, while Chuchu can fly?" Gold asked, completely off-topic as he examined the picture with Crys. "For gender-exclusive Pikachu moves, isn't it the other way around?"

"Normally, yes," Blue replied. "However, I don't think anyone will argue that the pair of them are not just normal Pikachu."

"Man, wouldn't it be so cool if my Pichu knew both?" Gold said as he jumped off of the couch. "I'd be the master of travel! I could go anywhere! No one would catch me!"

"Hate to burst your bubble, but you have no evidence to suggest that your Pichu has either," Silver said. Gold blinked and sat back down. "Oh, right. Got ahead of myself."

Finally, the picture made its way to Red. He looked at it closely without speaking a word. Yellow fidgeted where she stood; everyone else had enjoyed it, and she certainly had, but Pika was Red's Pokémon. He knew the mouse's looks better than anyone, which meant he would be the one to spot any imperfections. The girl held her breath as the silence stretched out longer and longer. After what seemed like an impossible eternity, the boy finally looked up at her.

Without a word, he stood up and walked over, stopping just in front of her. Yellow swallowed nervously; was it that bad? She'd been so happy with it! She was actually considering framing it and hanging it in her room and showing her uncle and-

Wait… He was hugging her? In front of everybody else? Yellow's face immediately flushed as she stiffened. Her brain wasn't cooperating; she had no idea what this meant. Red pulled away from her and smiled widely.

"I didn't even think it was possible, but it's perfect, Yellow," he said happily. "You got every single one of Pika's characteristics to the hair. I'm guessing you're pretty proud of this, but I wouldn't mind a copy of it at some point."

Yellow looked up at him with wide eyes. "R-really? You like it that much?"

Red nodded. "Yeah, I really do. It's incredible, Yellow." He pulled her into another hug and she blushed again, but slowly wrapped her arms around the boy's neck. She had never hugged him before, but she quite enjoyed it.

"Geez you two, get a room," Green teased. Yellow quickly pulled away and began stuttering that it wasn't what it looked like. Blue rolled his eyes and hit Green's shoulder lightly.

"You're a pest sometimes."

Green shrugged. "I just want them together. So does Yellow, but Arceus knows she needs help or else it'll never happen."

Yellow saw her eyes light up as she quickly turned to Blue and whispered something. After a moment Blue shrugged and said, "Give it a shot." They both glanced at Yellow, who suddenly felt nervous once more.

Clearing her throat, Green asked, "Do you know the tradition that couples kiss on New Year's?" Yellow's eyes suddenly widened as she realized where this was going.

Gold suddenly jumped up. He had been having a side conversation with Silver and Crys, but immediately cut into this one. "They do? Really?" He turned and looked expectantly at Crys, who sighed.

"Gold, don't take this the wrong way, but I'd rather kiss Silver because he isn't persistent," she said. Gold was silent for a moment, then replied with, "So I'm second?"

Silver burst out laughing, which surprised everyone. He looked at everyone and said with a shrug, "I've never seen anyone bounce back so fast before."

Everyone shared a laugh before Green cleared her throat again. "Anyway, I was thinking that since Red is so keen on hugging Yellow…" She trailed off and looked at Red, who figured out what she meant. He quickly tried to think of something to say.

"Well, I… Uh…"

"Make up your mind quickly," Blue cut in. "Look at the clock."

Everyone glanced at the wall, and Crys gasped, exclaiming, "Oh my gosh! It's almost time!" She quickly began counting, "Fourteen, thirteen, twelve, eleven…"

Everyone joined in while Yellow was still wrestling with the pressure in her head. Sure, she wanted to kiss Red, but she was too shy! And what if he didn't want to?

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five…"

She turned to the boy who hadn't said a word. "Red…"

"Four! Three!"

He still said nothing, only looking at her.

"TWO! ONE!"

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Crys jumped up and pulled Silver and Gold into a hug, kissing them both on the cheek. The boys looked at each other and only shrugged, both grinning.

Blue pulled Green around and kissed her before she could make the first move. She seemed mildly surprised, but winked at him nonetheless.

Pika and Chuchu tackled each other out of the kitchen and wrestled as they nuzzled their noses and talked happily.

Yellow saw none of this. She stared only at Red, who was looking at her oddly. Then, before she could speak again, he stepped forward and kissed her.

Her eyes widened as she felt his lips press against hers. It was so sudden – it was so unexpected – it was so… right. She slowly closed her eyes as she relaxed a bit and began to kiss back. Oh, how it felt right! She never wanted this to stop; she didn't care who all was watching. After what seemed like forever for the second time that night, Red pulled away and left her breathless.

He looked at her with an apologetic smile, but she quickly rushed forward to hug him. She noticed that everyone was watching them, though they were all grinning. She slowly released Red and they glanced at each other. Red was blushing, and Yellow giggled nervously.

She'd never hear the end of this, but she actually didn't care. This was something she could handle Green teasing her about. She felt Red wrap her into a hug again, and she smiled at everybody.

"Um… Happy New Year?" she said, not sure what else to say. Gold laughed and hugged Crys and Silver again.

"Man, we need to do these parties every week! Then I'll get with Crys for sure!"

Everyone shared a laugh as Crys sighed. "Just... Shut up Gold."

Happy New Year everyone!